WHEN OLD BOOKS ARE VALUABLE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19476, 11 May 1925, Page 13

WHEN OLD BOOKS ARE VALUABLE.

(By Ralph Straus in the Daily Chronicle.) It is curious, and sometimes a little pathetic, to find how widespread is the belief that “a really old book” must be of great value.. Time after time I have been asked to look at a shelfful of “very old books,” which their owner has reluctantly decided to sell. ' , . ‘‘They must be worth hundreds of pounds,” I am often told, “because they belonged to my great-grandfather, and have been in my family ever since. In. fact, we’ve been told they’re worth a small fortune. Sort of heirloooms, you see. They were printed hundreds of years ago. And look at the prices that American doctor has been paying!” ‘‘lt does not follow,” I point out, “because Dr Rosenbach paid a thousand pounds for an old boook, that all old books are valuable.” “No, but I don’t expect many are as old as mine.” _ “Were yours printed before 1500? I ask. • * * • The owner is not sure- He is a little annoyed at the directness of the question. “I think so,” he says, “but, anyhow, they are rare. There’s one, I know, which is dated 1625.” “And what are they about? Have .you. read them?” - .He stares and frowns. No, he hasn t actually read them, but “They’re very rare,’ he repeats, “and I’d take £IOO for the lot, though I’m certain they’re worth, very much more.” And so I go to the house, and am shown tlje precious shelf, and find precisely what I expected to find—a. Garolean exposition of the Scriptures, an imperfect edition of Milton, half a dozen volumes of Sermons, a. collection of legal cases, and a prayer book minus its title page. The merest rubbish. I try to explain, but am not believed. The owner, is even a little suspicious of my honesty, v . '-.“But look at the dates!” he exclaims. “You must be wrong!” *'* ♦ * v But lam not -wrong. Merely because a book happens to be old is no criterion of value. True, if you possess a book which was printed before 1500, you may possess a treasure. In any case, you should certainly take expert advice. After that date, however, the year of publication by itself goes for nothing. And the worst of it is that it is-almost impossible to lay down any fixed rules. Your grandfather mav have left you an old book for which Dr Rosenbach would cheerfully pay you severed hundred of pounds, but the odds against it are enormous. Most old libraries have bden “combed” very carefully by this time. There is, however, one point which may conveniently be noted. A book of no interest rarely fetches money. In the old days it was'not always easy to get a book printed. It was so easy to offend the authorities. And most of the books to bo printed were of a theological character. Well, who wants to read such books today? Not you or I. But if your hooka interests you, it will probably interest other people, and for that reason alone may be of value. ’ . There are, of course, other questions: first editions, condition, and so on. A first edition of an author whose works are 1 still read is generally, though not always, worth money, and it does not matter in which century he happened to flourish. But these are technical matters. My one paint is hardly bibliographical; it is literary. If you want to discover the value of an old book, the first step is to read it.